Vision and Objectives
The vision for the IDMF is to:
Establish a coordinated, shared, and standardised approach within NSW Government for the management of infrastructure data
This vision is supported by several key objectives, including to:
- improve access to NSW Government infrastructure data and information
- improve collaboration and sharing of service and infrastructure data and information managed by multiple information stewards and custodians, across the asset lifecycle
- improve service and whole of life infrastructure investment decisions informed by data
- improve the ability of agencies to meet and document statutory and legislative compliance requirements with respect to infrastructure data management
- protect critical infrastructure through appropriate management of sensitive infrastructure data
- capture lessons learnt and best practice on data management from NSW Government agencies and service providers
The IDMF provides guidance on process and data requirements to support agencies in adopting this framework. It relies on the NSW Open Data Policy and encourages the use of Data.NSW integrated platforms and services to publish and share data in near to real time.
Adoption and implementation of the IDMF will assist agencies and contracted service providers to:
- Manage infrastructure data and information in a secure, structured and consistent manner using recognised standards.
- Enable informed decision making in relation to planning, delivery and management of safe, sustainable and integrated infrastructure by having the right data and information available and accessible at the right time.
- Ensure that decision makers use fit for purpose data to support evidence-based decision making to balance whole of life cost, risk and asset performance.
- Understand infrastructure investment outcomes and place based interdependencies across clusters.
The IDMF supports the creation and management of digital twins for infrastructure assets to enable smart infrastructure and smart places. Adoption and implementation of the IDMF will be measured against the objectives above.
Principles
Application of common, open standards will enhance usability of infrastructure data, including digital twins, and maximise benefit to users. Management of information and data to agreed principles leads to better outcomes throughout the infrastructure lifecycle including optimisation of resources and better service delivery. The following principles have been used to guide the development and application of the IDMF:
| Objective | Public Good | Infrastructure data should deliver public good |
| Value | Infrastructure data should provide ongoing value and insights to inform planning, development, operation and maintenance of infrastructure across the asset lifecycle | |
| Function and Form | Quality | Infrastructure data should be reliable, consistent and known quality |
| Adaptability | Infrastructure data should be flexible and scalable to allow adaptation to new technology and societal needs | |
| Openness | Infrastructure data should be as openly available, transparent, authoritative, accessible and discoverable as possible to maximise value and reuse | |
| Governance and Accountability | Security and Privacy | Infrastructure data should be governed by processes that ensure privacy by design, and facilitate security and privacy-preserving role-based access |
| Curation | Data should be curated by processes that allocate responsibilities, ownership, monitoring and management | |
| Standards | Infrastructure data should meet consistent agreed standards (open where feasible) to enable interoperability | |
| Federation | Infrastructure data should be able to be federated to enable an interconnected eco-system of data environments supported by custodians |
These principles should be used as guidance by agencies to implement and adapt the IDMF to suit the needs of their customers and internal and external stakeholders, and to support strategic outcomes. The principles draw on the UK’s Centre for Digital Built Britain’s Gemini Principles , the ANZLIC Principles for Spatially Enabled Digital Twins of the Built and Natural Environment in Australia and the F.A.I.R. Principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). These principles have been adapted to NSW needs and priorities to ensure that agencies and their users can safely and effectively find, read, use, share and reuse infrastructure data.
Readers Guide
Varying audiences will find value in different sections of the IDMF. The introductory sections will be of value to all readers to provide important contextual and conceptual links to state strategies, policies and frameworks, while the later sections provide greater detail on key topics.
| Role | Section |
|---|---|
| Senior executives | Executive Summary, Introduction, Overview, Key Concepts, Organising the organisation, Next Steps |
| Asset and project managers | Introduction, Overview, Key Concepts, Organising the organisation, Data Requirements, Implementation Guidance |
| Information and data managers | Introduction, Overview, Key Concepts, Data Requirements, Data Structure and Coordination, Data Management and Practice, Data, Implementation Guidance |
The diagram at Figure 1: IDMF Structure provides a layered representation of the structure of the document – the higher levels are more relevant to executive leaders, while those readers closer to the implementation of data requirements will require an appreciation of the full breadth of the framework.
A glossary of key terms and definitions is provided at Appendix B - Terminology.
Last updated 12 Jul 2024